Baseball history unpacked, April 22

Sad times.

In Tuesday’s opener, the sim Cubs lost to the sim Padres by a score of 4-2 as the simPadres took the first game of the series at beautiful simWrigley Field. Rowan Wick was the losing pitcher and Dan Winkler gave up his first earned run of the season. Jose Quintana pitched well enough to win but the bats were lacking. Dinelson Lamet got the win and Kirby Yates shut the simCubs down in the ninth for the save. The game was not without any highlights but the simPadres have taken possession of the ground meat and the breadcrumbs and threaten to make meatloaf today. Jon Lester will try to prevent this from happenng. He is opposed by Joey Lucchesi, who is so unknown that I keep thinking of him as Larry, who apparently owns a body shop in Algonquin, but I had him confused with Larry LaLonde of Primus. Ah well. These things happen.

Al will have more information about that game in the game post at 2:30 pm CT, Tuesday, for our 3 p.m. start. I’ll drop the specific URL to the contest in the game thread, but you can lurk at the BCB Media Center and catch it there as well. All past games and highlights reels are available there too, if you want the full #simCubs experience.

... on Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays, Bleed Cubbie Blue brings a you a lighthearted Cubs-centric look at baseball’s past. Here’s a handy Cubs timeline, to help you follow along as we review hand-picked scenes from the rich tapestry of Chicago Cubs and Major League Baseball history*.

Today in baseball history:

• 1876 - Three thousand fans attend the Philadelphia Athletics’ 6-5 loss to the Boston Red Caps in the first game ever played in the National League. The Athletic Park contest becomes the new circuit’s inaugural event by default when the other scheduled games are rained out. Red Caps’ Joe Borden beats the hometown Philadelphia Athletics team, 6-5. (1,3)
• 1898 - On the same day, Ted Breitenstein of the Cincinnati Reds and Jay Hughes of the Baltimore Orioles each pitch no-hit ball games. Breitenstein’s gem is against the Pittsburgh Pirates, 11-0, and Hughes over the Boston Beaneaters, 8-0. A double no-no on the same date will not happen again until June 29, 1990, when A’s Dave Stewart and Dodger Fernando Valenzuela accomplish the feat with gems against the Blue Jays and Cardinals. (1,3)
• 1903 - In the first game of franchise history, the New York Highlanders (later to be renamed Yankees) lose their opener to the Washington Senators at American League Park, 3-1. Each starter gives up six hits with Jack Chesbro, the National League’s top winner last year (28-6) taking the loss. Al Orth, in his second season with Washington, is the winner (1,3)
• 1906 - A new baseball rule puts the umpire in sole charge of all game balls. The home team manager previously had some say as to when a new ball was introduced. (2,3)
• 1914 - In Federal League action, the Chicago Chi-Feds host the Kansas City Packers at newly-built Weegham Park, on Chicago’s North Side. With two home runs by Art Wilson, and a five-hitter by Claude Hendrix, the Chi-Feds coast to a 9-1 win before a crowd of 21,000. The name of the stadium will change to Cubs Park in time for opening day, 1920, and will be renamed “Wrigley Field” in 1926. (3)
• 1934 - Lon Warneke of the Chicago Cubs pitches his second consecutive one-hitter, beating the St. Louis Cardinals and Dizzy Dean, 15-2, at Sportsman’s Park. (3)
• 1976 - It takes two days to accomplish the feat, but Tim Foli becomes the first Expo to hit for the cycle when he homers in the eighth inning of a suspended game. Before the Wrigley Field contest was halted yesterday because of darkness, the Montreal shortstop had stroked a single, double, and triple in the club’s eventual 12-6 victory over Chicago, in that order, for a rare ‘natural cycle’. (2)
• 2008 - In a scheduling oddity, both New York big league teams play in Chicago, with the Mets playing the Cubs in a matinee, and the Yankees taking on the White Sox in an evening tilt. This unusual occurrence marks the first time in 11+ years that two teams from one city have both played as the visitors in the same city on the same date, a quirk likely necessitated by the Pope’s weekend visit to the Bronx, whose appearance included a mass at Yankee Stadium two days previous. (2)
• Cubs birthdays: Bob Smith, Taylor Douthit, Fabian Kowalik, Terry Francona, Mickey Morandini. Also notable: Vladimir Lenin (Ever heard of the Comrades of Summer?), Jack Nicholson (Cuckoo about baseball), Glen Campbell (He was a Champ*).

Sources:

• (1) — The National Pastime.
• (2) — Today in Baseball History.
• (3) — Baseball Reference.
• (4) — Society for American Baseball Research.
• (5) — Baseball Hall of Fame.
• (6) — This Day in Chicago Cubs history.

*We try to vet each item. Please let us know if an item is in error, especially if you have a source. Thanks for reading!